These 20 Photos Of Oklahoma In The 1950s Are Mesmerizing

The 1950s were a much better time for Oklahoma than the Great Depression era. Oklahoma was on its way to recovery after the wars, Dust Bowls and decline in farming. Oklahomans could start enjoying life more...televisions were becoming a staple in households, the summer heats were bearable with the increased manufacturing of mechanical air conditioning and wage scales were becoming comparable to the rest of the nation. The following are 20 photos taken throughout Oklahoma during the 1950s - and they are mesmerizing to see.

1. Taken in 1950, from the Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery file. Hopefully, they bought a bigger frying pan because these enormous blue catfish didn't get thrown back.

2. J.J. Quality Brand Peanuts being bagged in Shawnee in the 1950s.

3. The Adams Building in Bartlesville was completed in the late 1950s.

4. This image from 1950, is the old "OAMC Library." Completed in 1921, this was the first ever building that was solely devoted to the library. It was located less than 50 yards west from Old Central. It was succeeded in 1953, by the Edmon Low Library at OSU.

5. An aerial view of early Oklahoma A&M College during the wintertime. Circa 1950.

6. Oklahoma's Semi-Centennial Exposition, 1957.

7. Established in 1890, Okarche's town name was derived by using portions of the following 3 words: Oklahoma, Arapaho and Cheyenne. Taken in 1950.

8. This image of Randolph St. in Enid was taken in the 1950s. It is good to know that the milk came, "Fresh...From Contented Cows!"

9. This man was helping a lady at a service station in Oklahoma City in 1950.

10. Stillwater, Oklahoma, 1950.

11. Mayo Motor Inn in Tulsa, 1952. Photo courtesy of the Beryl Ford Collection.

12. Aerial view of the Oklahoma State Fair, 1955.

13. Downtown Tulsa, 1955 (looking south).

14. On August 28, 1958, a “sit-in” was staged at Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City. Walking into the store and ordering Cokes, a group of African-American youth, under Clara Luper's guidance, demonstrated their discontent with segregation and launched the nation's sit-in movement.

15. Educator and Civil Rights leader, Clara Luper, was born in Okfuskee County, OK. In 1957, Luper became the advisor for the Oklahoma City NAACP Youth Council.

16. Chimpanzees Minnie and Moe, from the zoo in Oklahoma City, are helping retrieve the mail, 1957.

17. Horse show from the 1956 Oklahoma State Fair.

18. Frank B. Eaton "Pistol Pete" rode in the October 1957, homecoming parade to spur support to make his caricature sketch the school's official mascot. Eaton had been the unofficial mascot since 1923. He died the next April and Charley Lester appeared as Pistol Pete in the 1958 parade.

19. Wetumka, Oklahoma. 1959.

20. The old lodge at Quartz Mtn. Resort, 1957.

Do you have any photos of Oklahoma during the 1950s?  Please share them with us in the comments below.